SINGAPORE: Workers' Party Member of Parliament (WP MP) Jamus Lim is currently in the hospital due to pneumonia, causing him to miss the Meet-the-People Session (MPS) on Oct 12 (Monday) at Anchorvale, the ward in Sengkang he’s been representing since 2020.
Nevertheless, the MPS still pushed through. Assoc Prof Lim said in a social media post early on Monday morning that his team of volunteers stepped up and took his place.
The rest of his MP duties, such as house and coffee shop visits, as well as estate walks, will have to wait until he’s in better health.
Assoc Prof Lim was already unwell last week. A short clip of him sniffling while he was delivering a speech in Parliament on Oct 6 went viral, especially after PAP MP Diana Pang (Marine Parade-Braddell Heights) unobtrusively went up to him to hand him a tissue.
After thanking her and wiping his nose, he turned to House Speaker Seah Kian Peng and said, “This is the haze, sir. I apologise.”
The MP was also seen wearing a mask when he was in his seat during the session.
Addressing the residents of Anchorvale, he wrote in his post that his condition “eventually developed into a bad case of Influenza A, before culminating in full-blown pneumonia.”
And while he had initially planned on only taking some days off last week to recover, he needed to be hospitalised after his blood oxygen level dropped to the low 90s. As he explained, the normal blood oxygen level for healthy individuals is between 95 and 100.
“In the meantime, I’ll do what I can on the back end to clear all appeal letters and to catch up on my email backlog, but I thank you for your patience in the meantime,” he wrote.
Haze may cause or significantly increase the risk of developing pneumonia in two ways: when the fine particulate matter in haze irritates or inflames the respiratory tract or when it brings pathogens that carry disease.
On Sunday, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that there has been an increase over the past week in respiratory conditions in hospitals as well as at polyclinics.
Meanwhile, Assoc Prof Lim has received an outpouring of well-wishes, including from former Jurong MP Tan Wu Meng.
“Get well soon, Jamus, and wishing you a swift and uneventful recovery!” wrote Dr Tan in a Facebook post. He also fondly recalled the conversations he had with the Sengkang MP over the years.
Assoc Prof Lim commented on Dr Tan’s post, writing, “Thanks for your kind words, Wu Meng, and I, too, recall your kind guidance as I was just starting as a freshman MP. Hope you’re thriving in the next chapter of your journey.” /TISG